What is Co-Intelligence?

The term "co-intelligence" refers to a shared, integrated
form of intelligence that we find in and around us when we're
most vibrantly alive. It is also found in cultures that sustain
themselves harmoniously with nature and neighbor.

Co-intelligence shows up whenever we pool our personal intelligences
to produce results that are more insightful and powerful than
the sum of our individual perspectives. Sometimes this happens
when we simply listen well to each other. Most of us have noticed
welcome examples of this effect in our families, groups and communities
-- and sometimes in organizations. But we have also seen more
than enough co-stupidity. We've seen people (including ourselves)
acting less intelligently together than we are individually. It
doesn't have to be that way. There are many ways to become more
co-intelligent, some of which are described in this site.

Significantly, co-intelligence is a capacity we all have,
individually and collectively. It is not a method that
can be sold by The Co-Intelligence Institute or anyone else. There
is no one way to be co-intelligent. Almost all of us have already
used co-intelligence at some time to improve work and family relationships,
to support our communities, and to help make a better world. We
could use a lot more. The Co-Intelligence Institute and this site
exist to help us do that -- to point out useful paths in our shared
journey. The more we can study this phenomena together, share
stories of our experiences with it, develop positive guidelines
and methods for enhancing it, the more co-intelligence we can
bring to our lives.

Co-intelligence is about creating our shared lives together --
and doing it well. With co-intelligence:

We learn and work better with each other and with the world
around us.

We use our diversity and our uniqueness more creatively.

We engage more effectively with our full selves -- integrating
the intelligences of our head, heart, spirit, body, intuition,
creativity, and more.

We can consciously evolve together in partnership with nature.

We can heal and transform our culture and our world.

The more co-intelligent we are, the more tuned in we are to
the wholeness, interconnectedness, and co-creativity of all life
-- and the more we can sense the larger co-intelligence that is
always there waiting for us, waiting to operate through us for
the benefit of all.

For a powerful overview, read: A
compact vision of co-intelligence, a key essay which simplifies
co-intelligence into two parts -- collective intelligence and
collaborative intelligence. It shows how these together suggest
a new vision of cultural transformation that, if understood and
applied, could have a profound positive impact on our future.